The philosophies of men mingled with the philosophies of women.

Jug on the Shelf

Do you remember the very first item about the church that you had to “put on the shelf”? The first thing you learned that didn’t have a good answer, and caused you some cognitive dissonance, so you just put it away to think about another day?

I remember mine, because it was already literally on a shelf (note the proper use of the word literally). In my home growing up, mom had decorated the front room with some antique items, and one of them was a stoneware jug. It was always turned so the handle faced outwards. Below is a photo of the same jug that is now in my home.

One day when I was 11 or 12, I was goofing off, and I took the jug down to check it out. To my surprise, the jug was actually displayed backwards, and the front was as shown below. After I looked at it, I put it back on the shelf.

I can still remember the odd feeling I had, trying to reconcile the Word of Wisdom as I had been taught, and the fact that there was a liquor company in predominately Mormon Salt Lake. Who would be buying this at the turn of the century?

I ask my dad about where we got it from, and he said they had found it in his grandfather’s shed years ago. This is my great grandfather, who was a bishop and who I’m named for. He said they teased grandpa about it, saying he was sneaking drinks behind grandma’s back. But my dad did not have an answer on why in Mormon Salt Lake City, there was a liquor company.

I have done some research, and found out that the Utah Liquor Company started in 1894, and continued until prohibition. I also found out that mine is a misprint, and the real address was 223 South Main where it moved in 1903.

Later in life I learned the true history of the WofW, and that it was not enforced as we know it today when the Utah Liquor Company was in business. [1] So maybe great-grandpa was really drinking out in his shed.

So what was your very first item on the shelf. Can you remember it, and the feelings you had?

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8 thoughts on “Jug on the Shelf”

Great post! I wasn’t raised in the Mormon faith, but my evangelical holiness upbringing had similar responses to questions. We were taught “ Questions are doubts. Doubts are from Satan. Put those questions in a box and lock it up. Live by faith. “ These words have followed me my whole life. I have lots of faith and still have lots of questions.

I have always had a “engineering” mind. I would take apart anything I could get away with to just figure out how it works. My first shelf items were with things like the Jaredites going across the Atlantic Ocean in submarines thousands of years ago. How did they get enough food and water on board? How did they deal with poop? Noah’s arc brought up the same issues with having enough food for things like lions.
The first more theological shelf item was Alma running out of king Noah’s court and the next thing is he is baptizing people. Wait – I thought you very clearly had to have the priesthood to do that! Where did he get it??
But not getting answers to prayers was the item that kept sagging my shelf over the decades.

It might help one’s spiritual dissonance to know that the proprietor of the Utah Liquor Company was Jacob Bergerman, who was a Jew and not LDS. But I was a bit surprised when visiting Provo many years ago that a waitress asked me is I wanted coffee while dining at a local restaurant..

From my remembrance of Utah history, I understand that there was a n influx of non-LDS businesses in the wake of the “occupation” of Utah that occurred in the 1857 “Mormon War” with Brigham Young being replaced as governor by a “gentile” governor.

I had to put many things on the shelf after my conversion experience. Including alcohol. Leaving Babylon wasn’t easy. Babylon offers many short term rewards. Many of my friends I hung out with in my days in Babylon have passed away. Alcohol and other pleasures of Babylon can rob one of health and/or longevity.

My shelf has increased as I delve into,church history. Besides th authenticity of the BOM and book of Abramham, Blood Atonement and The Second Annointing bother me the most. It crushes me to have anyone say that my Lord and Savior died not for all man’s sins. The second anointing bugs me on a few levels, 1) I don’t believe any man on earth can tell another that he/she has proven themselves worthy of the celestial kingdo,m and that they and heir families have their election made sure, they are no longer accountable for any sin except for murder and denying the Holy Ghost. 2) I hate that this is supposed to be kept secret and that only a few people,get this blessing , John 14:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me, I don’t believe Jospeh Smith or anyone else can take the place of the Savior.

I had a few things on my shelf and then realized, after some time, that I have no need for what is on the shelf so I threw it all in the trash. Polygamy? No need for it. It was wrong. To tell myself that there is an answer for it that will come later is just a waste of space. Second anointing? Wrong. Chucked it. God is an exalted man and I can become a god someday too? Nope. Not consistent with the Bible or The Book of Mormon. Chucked it. I have finally allowed myself to face the fact that there are Mormon doctrines that are just false. I don’t need Mormonism to be 100% truth and God’s way anymore. It is a religion and, like all religions on earth, there are good things and bad things. Figure out what is good and hold fast to it. Figure out what is bad and discard it.

Mine was when my mom, then Primary President, asked the Bishop if he would please exempt the Primary girls from having to wear dresses in the chapel just for opening exercises. You see, this was in 1974/1975. Directly after school, you had to go to the chapel/meetinghouse for Primary during a weekday afternoon. You also then had to go to an additional Junior Sunday School on Sunday morning. This was before the 3-hour block of meetings. I don’t know if the ERA fight had begun in earnest yet, but I do remember the Bishop saying “no”, and my mom being a bit perturbed, as her daughters, as well as other girls in the ward, had simply wanted to not have to carry a dress around all day, walk to church with it, change at the church restroom into the dress or skirt, and then go into the chapel. Of course, by this time, no girls wore dresses to school, except for one very Catholic girl in the Basque tradition, and she was bullied, ridiculed, and Mormonism was supposed to be becoming more mainstream, not less. We lived in Elko, NV, at the time. I was 11 going on 12, a gay, closeted, Mormon boy, and I gladly would’ve worn a dress!